Some Day One Day (Maylor AU)

Chapter 19

"Roger Taylor," the blonde introduced himself, hesitantly placing his hand in Stewart's to return the handshake and using it to pull himself up off the toilet seat. "I work here."

The taller man grinned, opening his mouth to say that he figured as much when Roger told him that he wanted to get to work, but before any of that could be expressed, his voice was stolen by Cheryl's.

"Great, now that we all know each other's names, can we get this over with?" Her narrow eyes locked on Roger's terrified ones. "He and I have some unfinished business to attend to."

"The only business you need to be attending to, Cheryl, is running this place when I'm gone," Stewart corrected her, turning around to face her and draining all the color from Roger's face. When he's gone? "That's what I need to talk to you about." What is he talking about?

"Fine," she surrendered, throwing a finger in his face, "But this better be quick." The owner rolled his eyes and nudged her out of the bathroom doorway, trailing behind her after winking at Roger and tipping his head towards the café—giving him permission to start his shift. Roger nodded in understanding but stood still, his feet seemingly glued to the ground. It wasn't until the taller blonde was out of sight that the floor freed him, pushing him out of the small room and over to the punch clock, where he snatched an apron and tied it quickly around his waist.

Within minutes, everyone's favorite barista was behind the counter, trying his best to put on a brave face after the bizarre start to his day and forcing a smile at every compliment he received about his new haircut. However, he wasn't truly there. Everyone who came in that morning could see that his mind was somewhere else. He was messing up nearly every other order, the teasing yet playful quips he served with every drink were lacking, and he couldn't stop glancing over his shoulder to the door that led to the back.

Despite the distance and privacy that secluded Cheryl and Stewart from the rest of the establishment, their raised voices could be heard throughout the café; even outside. Although Roger didn't catch everything that was said, he learned a lot about the owner that morning.

For starters, the café fell into his hands on accident, though accident wasn't quite the right word to describe it. A better way to define the situation would be to say that the café had been gifted to him, after he and the original owner got high together one night. Cheryl believed Stewart coerced the original owner—her boyfriend, at the time—into handing over the keys, but the way Stewart saw it, the man was just feeling very generous that night and he was too stoned to say no.

Secondly, Stewart wanted to pass down the ownership to Cheryl for two reasons—the first being that it originally belonged to her boyfriend, and it only seemed right to give ownership to her. After all, she had been working there the longest and knew the place better than anyone, no matter how corrupt her management style was.

The other, more important reason Stewart wanted to promote Cheryl was that he was leaving for London and, as he so plainly put it, "I don't plan on coming back this time." He was a drummer who had started touring with an English band about two years ago, but they broke up recently and he had found someone else over there to start another band with. Despite loathing him with every fiber of her being, Cheryl argued that it would make more sense for him to stay at the café and run it like he should have been, but Stewart strongly felt like whatever he and that someone else were going to do was worth giving up everything he had in New York and taking his chances in London. The situation reminded Roger a lot of himself, only switch the two places around and replace the hope of success with the escape from a toxic past.

Once business died down, Roger found himself wiping down one of the tables and fantasizing about what London was like—having lost interest in the argument that definitely had transcended its definition of "quick."

It had been a month or two since he last talked to Freddie, and everything his friend had caught him up on made him more and more homesick. Hearing about Brian, thanks to Freddie's in with Paul, tugged at his heart even more. Roger wondered if Freddie mentioned what he did on purpose, to make him feel guilty about leaving London with Tim, but that would be breaking their agreement to not intervene with one another's lives; to not judge the other person for what they do, regardless of what that was. It didn't stop Roger from regretting his decision, though.

The slamming of the door to the back as it flew open startled the blonde and the few patrons who had lingered after the morning rush. Without saying a single word, Cheryl stormed past Roger, struggling to light a cigarette on her hurried way out. The blonde raised a suspicious eyebrow, but before he could investigate, a strong hand fell down on his shoulder.